1. Assume these facts as true: Sen. Burr chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee. At a closed confidential hearing in late January, he heard dramatic evidence that the corona virus was likely to heavily impact the United States and its economy (which is what happened). The following day, Sen. Burr called his stockbroker and told him to sell all of his $2 million worth of stock holdings. Two weeks later, the danger of the corona virus became known to the public, and the stock market lost much value. Sen Burr saved $400,000. By selling his stock when he did. Was Sen Burr an “insider”. Did he violate the insider trading laws? Argue one way or the other but support your argument.

Assume these facts as true. Sen Loeffler attended the above described hearing chaired by Sen. Burr. When she returned home that evening, she told her husband about the hearing. Her husband is Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. The next day, without telling his wife, he sold $3.5 million worth of stock jointly owned with his wife. He saved $600,000.00 in losses by selling his stock then. Was Sen Loeffler or her husband an “insider”? Did either of them violate the insider trading laws? Argue one way or the other.

GENERAL BUSINESS COURSE QUESTION:

Joe and Jill were talking about the role played by the Federal Reserve System in the United States. Joe seemed to be quite well informed about the functions and activities of our central bank. "You see, Jill, the Fed is the main guardian of our nation's economic stability," Joe declared. "In America, we don't want inflation and we don't want recession. To stretch the situation just a bit, we are frightened, absolutely terrified, by thoughts of hyperinflation and depression. So, the Fed maintains the right to alter the situation and protect us from these two monsters. And you ask, how they do that? The answer is the discount rate. That is the device that the Federal Reserve System uses to keep us safe."

Jill was enjoying listening to her friend explain it all. Joe continued, "Now the discount rate is the interest rate that the twelve Federal Reserve Banks around the country charge their member banks on a loan. So, when the discount rate goes up, all interest rates tend to go up. And, happy to say, when interest rates go up all over America, this tends to slow down any inflationary tendencies." Jill asked, "Does the Fed have other tools for stopping inflation?" "No," said Joe.

4) Judging from Joe's remarks, which do we as a nation fear the most - inflation or recession?

GENERAL BUSINESS COURSE QUESTION:

Joe and Jill were talking about the role played by the Federal Reserve System in the United States. Joe seemed to be quite well informed about the functions and activities of our central bank. "You see, Jill, the Fed is the main guardian of our nation's economic stability," Joe declared. "In America, we don't want inflation and we don't want recession. To stretch the situation just a bit, we are frightened, absolutely terrified, by thoughts of hyperinflation and depression. So, the Fed maintains the right to alter the situation and protect us from these two monsters. And you ask, how they do that? The answer is the discount rate. That is the device that the Federal Reserve System uses to keep us safe."

Jill was enjoying listening to her friend explain it all. Joe continued, "Now the discount rate is the interest rate that the twelve Federal Reserve Banks around the country charge their member banks on a loan. So, when the discount rate goes up, all interest rates tend to go up. And, happy to say, when interest rates go up all over America, this tends to slow down any inflationary tendencies." Jill asked, "Does the Fed have other tools for stopping inflation?" "No," said Joe.

3) If tomorrow morning the Fed ordered that the reserve requirements for all banks would be raised significantly, what effect would that have on the money supply?

Which technology is better?

(1)

a technology that involves high initial cost but lower future annual operating costs

(2)

a technology that is cheaper in initial cost but higher future annual operating costs

A. Always (1) Technology

B. Always (2) Technology

C. Depends. Need to evaluation a life-cycle cost

For every penny that the price of gasoline goes up, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) experiences a monthly fuel cost increase of $8 million. State what assumptions you need to make to answer this question: "How many mail delivery vehicles does the USPS have in the United

States?”

A. Gasoline price before the increase

B. Gas consumption (miles per

gallon) of the average delivery vehicle

C. Total number of miles driven each year by the average delivery vehicle

D. Total number of drivers employed by the USPS

E. Annual repair and maintenance expenses per average delivery

vehicle

Assume that your employer is a manufacturing firm that produces several different electronic consumer products. What are three nonmonetary factors (attributes) that may be important when a significant change is considered in the design of the current bestselling product?

A. Aesthetics

B. R&D expenses incurred for the design

C. Safety

D. Advertising costs

E. Quality in terms of consumer expectations

Is capitalism sustainable? Does business need to change the way it is presently conducted to be sustainable and competitive in the future? The above questions are your research topics for this week’s assignment. These are questions that many academics, economists, and policymakers in the United States ask themselves based upon the facts. This week you are asked to fact find (data) and consider how changes in the utilization of resources used by businesses are going to be factored going forward in the coming years. For example, how will humans and businesses deal with the end or near the end of specific resources (i.e. oil, iron, seafood, etcetera)? Keep in mind, as you learned in economics, that all resources are limited. Thus, based on current consumption rates they will run out. Also, within this equation, one must consider the environment and the questions of social responsibility to those who do not have access to such resources but are affected by the current capitalist society. In addition, clean water and air are a necessity for all forms of life. How does one protect these precious resources and continue to strive toward meeting profit objectives each fiscal quarter? Is capitalism as we know it at the end of its life cycle? While this is not an easy assignment or one where there are correct answers, there are answers and they should/must be based on good data and logic. In this assignment, you are asked to conduct your research and report the data while making an argument as it pertains to the original question. Is capitalism sustainable?

GENERAL BUSINESS COURSE QUESTION:

Joe and Jill were talking about the role played by the Federal Reserve System in the United States. Joe seemed to be quite well informed about the functions and activities of our central bank. "You see, Jill, the Fed is the main guardian of our nation's economic stability," Joe declared. "In America, we don't want inflation and we don't want recession. To stretch the situation just a bit, we are frightened, absolutely terrified, by thoughts of hyperinflation and depression. So, the Fed maintains the right to alter the situation and protect us from these two monsters. And you ask, how they do that? The answer is the discount rate. That is the device that the Federal Reserve System uses to keep us safe."

Jill was enjoying listening to her friend explain it all. Joe continued, "Now the discount rate is the interest rate that the twelve Federal Reserve Banks around the country charge their member banks on a loan. So, when the discount rate goes up, all interest rates tend to go up. And, happy to say, when interest rates go up all over America, this tends to slow down any inflationary tendencies." Jill asked, "Does the Fed have other tools for stopping inflation?" "No," said Joe.

2) Joe probably can't answer this question, but you can. What happens in the Fed's open market operations?

Imagine that you work for a global automobile manufacturer as a lead training and development associate. The head of human resources (HR) has had meetings with various departments, and a training need was identified by the sales department. Sales have dropped considerably in the last quarter, and through a training needs analysis, it was shown that sales associates lack the proper knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to effectively sell automobiles to various car dealerships in the United States and abroad.

The head of HR has asked that you give him or her a presentation on which major training theory you would recommend to apply to this scenario to equip the sales associates with the necessary skills to increase sales.

Select one training theory. This can be any of the four discussed in this unit or a training theory of your choice that interests you. Then, in your PowerPoint presentation, include the elements listed below.       

• Discuss the training theory and its primary tenets.
• Explain why you recommend this theory.
• Discuss two to three activities that you would build from this theory. For example, if you chose action theory, you may create group activities where sales associates run through sales scenarios with each other to see what works and what does not. Feel free to be as creative as you would like with your given theory.
• Explain how your activities will address each learning style (i.e., visual, audible, and kinesthetic learning styles).

Consider about the working conditions and regulatory environment in clothing factories in Bangladesh, in which many economists warn about quick fixes for wages and the imposition of U.S. safety standards on foreign factories. They offer the following figures to illustrate that the issue of labor conditions in other countries is complex. In Bangladesh, clothing factories get about $6.75 per shirt. These are the factory costs:

1. $4.75 for the fabric and thread
2. $1.00 for the shirt's labels
3. $0.38 wage costs for each shirt (workers earn $70 to $80 a month)
4. $0.15 per shirt for laundering

Hence, That leaves $0.47 per shirt for facilities, shipment, marketing, and perhaps the interest on loans. Furthermore, the cost of living in Bangladesh is $40 per month for rent, and food per adult is $13 per month. Milk for a child is $5 per month. Those who work in the factories are generally the main wage earners in their families because no other jobs pay as well.

Base of the case above, answer the following questions:

1. Given this analysis, where do you see some fixes for the safety and wage issues?
2. What needs to be done besides instituting codes of ethics and factory and labor standards?
3. Assume that you are a manager for a clothing firm in the United States and you are being sent to Bangladesh to select a new manufacturer for your clothing lines. Discuss some of the issues that will affect your decisions about choosing a new facility to work with.

John Tuckland, the CEO of the Storedalsgatan (STI), believes that the company can significantly increase its operating profit by implementing supply chain management. STI manufactures a variety of consumer electronic products, from hair dryers to humidifiers to massagers, for the world market.

John believes that STI has already integrated its internal processes and is ready to proceed with external integration. However, he is uncertain as to which direction to take. Should the company work on integrating the suppliers or the distributors first? Currently, STI uses approximately 1250 different components and/or raw materials in manufacturing its product line. Those components and raw materials are purchased from approximately 275 different suppliers around the world. In terms of distribution, STI currently sends its finished products to a central warehouse that supplies 10 regional distribution centers (RDC); 6 are domestic and 4 are located outside of the United States. Each RDC supplies an average of 12 local distributors that each supply an average of 25 retailers.

John is looking for some advice.

1. Briefly describe STI's supply chain.

2. What are the advantages that STI can gain by implementing supply chain management?

3. What would you recommend STI attempt next? Should it work on integrating the suppliers or the distributors first? Or should it work on both simultaneously?

4. What are your recommendations with regard to the external distributors?